The 25 richest self-made billionaires in the world

June 23, 2015 9:02 AM

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25. Len Blavatnik

Estimated net worth: $20.1 billion

Source of wealth: Founded Access Industries in 1986 and invested in aluminum and chemical companies. In recent years he began investing in tech, with stakes in Spotify and Beats. Blavatnik also owns Warner Music, which he bought in 2011 for $3.3 billion.

Source of wealth: He's known for investing in new, blossoming tech startups and was an early Facebook backer. Recently, the company he chairs, Hutchison Whampoa, bought the UK's second-largest mobile operator, O2. Last year he invested $23 million in plant-based egg-replacement company Hampton Creek through his firm Horizon Ventures.

Source of wealth: Ballmer served as CEO of Microsoft for 14 years before retiring in early 2014. He's still Microsoft's largest single shareholder, though. After leaving the tech world, Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for a record-breaking $2 billion — the largest amount ever paid for an NBA team.

Source of wealth: Founded Luxottica in 1961, and it is now the largest eyewear retailer in the world. Today Luxottica owns Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, and Oakley, and manufactures glasses for luxury brands like Burberry, Prada, and Versace.

Source of Wealth: Best known for the Quantum Fund, a hedge fund he launched in 1973 under his Soros Fund Management company. In 1992 he shorted the British pound, a risky move that ended up earning the fund $1 billion in a single day.

Source of wealth: Founded and runs financial firm 3G Capital, which has stakes in Anheuser-Busch InBev, Burger King, and Tim Hortons. Also partnered with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to invest in a merger between Heinz and Kraft, unifying the businesses into the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world.